Oh this one... I imagine it's what people play in hell.

I agree with you and take it even further, it was quickly obvious to me that I wouldn't get far. And given that once you leave certain places without everything you need you can't go back and therefore cannot complete the game, I decided to use a walkthrough. Guess what, I managed to get stuck following the walkthrough and I never understood why (had to do with the gems collecting thing).

So this is one of the very few adventures I started but never got to finish and while I liked it initially it ended up feeling like a chore.

I have zero tolerance for adventure game nonsense, but managed to complete this back in the day without much trouble. There is some bullshit, but the cave puzzle is actually solvable without any trial and error or even mapping (if you have a good memory). It always surprised me to see the game getting so much hate for that cave section. The biggest problem with the game is the second half, where you have to mix potions but the game provides you with no information whatsoever; I have no idea how I solved this back then without walkthroughs or whatever... maybe I asked for help on the Prodigy network 🤣.

I actually replayed this game several years ago, and basically had the same experience. The alchemy stuff in the second half is a bunch of bullshit, and there's some pixel hunting in the final castle, but I's overall a really good adventure. It helps that the graphics and soundtrack are so good (the music is amazing, whether on MT-32 or not).

newtmonkey wrote on Yesterday, 16:12:

I have zero tolerance for adventure game nonsense, but managed to complete this back in the day without much trouble. There is some bullshit, but the cave puzzle is actually solvable without any trial and error or even mapping (if you have a good memory). It always surprised me to see the game getting so much hate for that cave section. The biggest problem with the game is the second half, where you have to mix potions but the game provides you with no information whatsoever; I have no idea how I solved this back then without walkthroughs or whatever... maybe I asked for help on the Prodigy network 🤣.

I actually replayed this game several years ago, and basically had the same experience. The alchemy stuff in the second half is a bunch of bullshit, and there's some pixel hunting in the final castle, but I's overall a really good adventure. It helps that the graphics and soundtrack are so good (the music is amazing, whether on MT-32 or not).

I admire you for solving this without any outside help. The alchemy is the exaggeration of the gem riddle from the beginning. It just continues to mock you. I agree that I would have solved the cave with mapping too. Its not hard but annoyingly oversized which makes you think there is way much more to do than there is. Also the fear that in on of the 84000 screens is a pixel that actually means something.

About the MT32 sound. I love it but it means losing most of the sound effects which is a no-go for me. I am so happy that some games like Dune 2 added a patch to combine Soundblaster and MT32 which I think is the best of the best.

mombarak wrote on Yesterday, 16:20:

I admire you for solving this without any outside help. The alchemy is the exaggeration of the gem riddle from the beginning. It just continues to mock you. I agree that I would have solved the cave with mapping too. Its not hard but annoyingly oversized which makes you think there is way much more to do than there is. Also the fear that in on of the 84000 screens is a pixel that actually means something.

About the MT32 sound. I love it but it means losing most of the sound effects which is a no-go for me. I am so happy that some games like Dune 2 added a patch to combine Soundblaster and MT32 which I think is the best of the best.

That's a great point about the alchemy being an exaggeration of the gem riddle. The gem riddle is also completely random and annoying, but it's not hard to figure out if you're committed to solving it. The alchemy puzzle is just ridiculous though... when I replayed the game I thought for sure I had missed something in the game giving you hint how to solve it, so I searched online but the result was basically "yeah, it's just random" 🤣.

I get what you're saying about the lack of sound effects! Luckily the SB version of the soundtrack is surprisingly good, one of the few games where it doesn't feel like an afterthought. When I first played the game I of course didn't have an MT-32, so the SB soundtrack is actually quite nostalgic for me!

i really like this game. Some people dislike the caverns, but to me it's a love letter to the old adventuring where you had to draw a map. The potions puzzle is indeed effed up, because you don't get real clues, Zanthia asks you to pick Blueberries but that's not enough you need to figure out yourself trial and error style on what to do. If i had the source code for this game would be just the matter of placing Zanthia's spell book somewhere to at least give you some clues on how to do the full concoctions. Creating the potions is easy once you find the altar. But yeah, to me it's the only thing in the game that needs fixing.

Otherwise this game is pretty epic, the graphics are beautiful and the music is a Frank Klepacki masterpiece. The Emerald Cavern theme is buried and played only on one screen (guess which) is a complete banger (my 9 year old son loves it) and the Will o Wisp theme is just marvellous, is does take you to a different place with the melody and the well harmonized section. Shout out to the CD version as well, the voice acting is very good and sounds as professional as a 1992/1993 game could get.

Agreed 100%. The best thing for the alchemy puzzle would have to just put a bunch of recipes in the manual, or even better, a separate potion booklet you'd have to read through and figure out as part of the puzzle.

Does anyone know if the FM Towns version brings any graphical or sound improvements? Looks very similar to me.

mombarak wrote on Yesterday, 17:31:

Does anyone know if the FM Towns version brings any graphical or sound improvements? Looks very similar to me.

Graphical no and music wise the DOS/MT32 version is superior to any other out there. The Amiga version is pitiful, by comparison.

FM Towns, CD-DA is good music wise, but i still prefer the MT-32.

carlostex wrote on Yesterday, 17:10:

i really like this game. Some people dislike the caverns, but to me it's a love letter to the old adventuring where you had to draw a map. The potions puzzle is indeed effed up, because you don't get real clues, Zanthia asks you to pick Blueberries but that's not enough you need to figure out yourself trial and error style on what to do. If i had the source code for this game would be just the matter of placing Zanthia's spell book somewhere to at least give you some clues on how to do the full concoctions. Creating the potions is easy once you find the altar. But yeah, to me it's the only thing in the game that needs fixing.

Otherwise this game is pretty epic, the graphics are beautiful and the music is a Frank Klepacki masterpiece. The Emerald Cavern theme is buried and played only on one screen (guess which) is a complete banger (my 9 year old son loves it) and the Will o Wisp theme is just marvellous, is does take you to a different place with the melody and the well harmonized section. Shout out to the CD version as well, the voice acting is very good and sounds as professional as a 1992/1993 game could get.

I read somewhere the floppy version has even less fire berry bushes in the cavern... sadomasochism at its best...

I just realized that Joe "C&C Kane" Kucan voiced Brandon. Wow.

I finished the game. But I had to look into the hint book again twice. 1 to be sure I carry over everything. I made 2 Pegasus potions but once you are there, the potions do not have an effect anymore so you cannot go back !!! 😒

The second time I found a fish in one of the rooms of castle and ate it without saving... turns out it has no use, same as the silver unicorn you get from the fountain which is actually a riddle to get it and the ank from another room in the castle. These developers either hat tons of unfinished ideas or were mad...

I finished this game back in the day, but you need to remember that such a game was usually played for weeks if not month. I would often play together with friends and we would play until we got stuck and then all comming back the next day with new ideas. Especially putting aside a game and comming back after a while often works wonder.

I liked the visuals and music very much and the game sure has charm. But actually getting softlocked because of a lost or forgotten item really was terrible in Kyrandia. I completed part 1 and 2, started on 3 but never finished it. It didn't really had the same vibe iirc.